Running Around
by Strictly Platonic
Summary: Adyson Sweetwater meets a boy named Sam by chance when both took shelter from a storm. As the two become good friends, she begins to wrestle with her own feelings towards Django Brown and some new unexpected ones for Sam. /Reviews are helpful!/
1. Rain and Towels

Chapter I

"So much for 'sunny all day'.."

Adyson Sweetwater blew her wet bangs from her face. She was sitting under a bridge in the park, having been caught by the sudden downpour on her way home from a Fireside Girls meeting. She remembered the weather report stating it would be blue skies all day and sighed. Fortunately, she had made it to shelter before she got totally soaked, but it was chilly enough that she was bound to catch a cold soon. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she huddled to herself and began waiting the storm out.

Maybe she was distracted with her thoughts or maybe the rain drowned out any noise or maybe it was her chattering teeth pounding in her ears, but whatever the reason, Adyson didn't hear or see that someone else had taken refuge under the same bridge. A few moments passed before the person actually spoke and caught her attention.

"Hey there."

Adyson, startled out of her thoughts, quickly turned to find a boy standing there, thoroughly soaked from the rain. He looked pretty normal, except he was wearing a thin red t-shirt, jogging shorts and a backpack. Something told her he wasn't expecting this storm either.

"It's kinda wet to be out dressed like that, wouldn't you say?" She replied, trying to keep her tone light and calm despite the cold telling her teeth to chatter.

The boy laughed and shook his head, his wet hair swishing back and forth.

"It doesn't bother me too much," He said and gave her a smile. "Plus, I like the rain. It's soothing, you know?"

"It's cold, that's for sure.." Adyson mumbled, huddling slightly tighter as a chilly gust of wind blew through the underpass.

"Here," The boy took off his backpack and knelt, fumbling inside of it until he pulled out a small towel. "I was going to use this later, but I think you could use it more than me. I mean..it's not much, but I hope it helps."

"Oh..uh, thanks." Adyson accepted the towel and began to dry herself off.

Afterwards, she wrapped it around her shoulders to keep warm and it worked, to a degree. Her teeth soon stopped chattering, but she had no doubts that she would wake up with a cold tomorrow.

"Mind if I...?"He asked, motioning to the spot beside her.

Adyson shook her head and he took a seat, closer than she would have liked, but she didn't say anything. They sat in silence for the next few minutes, just listening to the rain and occasional thunder in the distance. She glanced at him and noticed he wasn't even shivering, despite being completely drenched from head to toe. Surely it had to have been cold, yet he gave his only towel to her. She mentally kicked herself. For all she knew, he could have had a spare in his pack and decided not to use it. Maybe he was just more tolerant of the cold than she was.

"The fat polar bear." He suddenly blurted out.

"What?" Adyson gave him a peculiar look, raising an eyebrow.

He flashed her a smile. "It broke the ice, didn't it?Or rather, the silence in this case."

Despite the fact the joke was terrible, she found herself giggling. This seemed to encourage him and he extended a hand to her.

"I'm Sam, by the way."

"I'm Adyson." She shook his hand and smiled.

"So, what are you doing out here in this weather?" He asked, nodding his head to the rain.

Adyson shrugged. "I was coming back from a meeting with my Fireside Girls troop when the storm came in, so I took shelter in the nearest place." She then added: "What about you?"

"Ah, I was just out for a jog through the park. I wouldn't have stopped here normally, but.." He shrugged. "I saw you and figured you could use some company."

"Oh, my knight in shining armor.." Adyson said sarcastically, unable to resist a smirk. "I think you're missing your white steed, though."

Sam laughed and, to Adyson surprise, she liked the sound of his laugh. "Not all of us knights can afford steeds, you know, we recently had a budget cut. I had to settle for a grey donkey instead."

This time they both laughed. For the next minute or so, they sat in silence again until it was Adyson who broke it.

"So do you go to school here?"She asked.

"Yea, we're in the same science class together actually." He smiled. "I sit two seats behind you."

"Really?" Adyson lifted an eyebrow. "Why haven't we spoken before?"

"Well, we've spoken now." Sam said with a wink and then motioned outside the underpass. "It looks like the rain is stopping."

Sure enough, the rain was slowing to a light sprinkling. Within minutes it had stopped completely and the sun began peeking through the dispersing grey clouds.

Sam stood up and brushed himself off before smiling down at Adyson. "It was fun talking to you, Adyson. I'll see you at school."

With that, he hefted his backpack on and began jogging off, waving back at her as he did. Adyson got to her feet and watched him go before finally setting off for home. It wasn't until she reached up to move some hair from her face that she realized Sam's towel was still around her shoulders.

_'I'll have to give this back to him tomorrow.'_ She thought before her mind wandered to the nice hot bath she was going to take at home.


	2. Tongue Tied

Chapter II  
Tongue Tied

* * *

**Math**** class**

"...If you take this number here and divide it by this one, you'll get another.."

Slowly, Adyson began to tune the math teacher, Mr. Harrison, out as her mind wandered from the lesson. She propped her elbows on her desk and rested her chin on her hands, letting her eyes scan the room for something, anything, that didn't have to do with math. Most of her friends didn't take the same math as her, but a few did, though they sat nowhere near her. Holly was busily taking notes a few seats to Adyson's right and Katie seemed lost in thought as she stared into space directly behind Holly.

Her focus soon rested on the boy sitting beside her, Django Brown. He was sketching something in his notebook, completely oblivious to the lesson and everything else. She had always had a crush on him, but he never seemed to notice her in the same way. They were great friends and hung out often, but she just wished she could tell him how she felt at long last. It was killing her keeping it inside, but she wanted to be sure of his feelings before she said anything.

"Hey, whatcha drawing?" She whispered, leaning over to him. She realized afterwards that she had asked that in the same way Isabella asks Phineas stuff and had to suppress a smile.

Django jumped a little and turned to look at her, partially covering up his notebook.

"Oh, uh, nothing really.." He said, obviously embarrassed. "Just some doodles.."

"It doesn't look like 'doodles' to me. C'mon, let me see the rest of it." Adyson smiled.

Before he could even answer, Adyson reached over and pulled his notebook out from under his arm. He started to protest, but she ignored him and examined the drawing. It was a sketch of the old tree that grew in the front of the school, and it was remarkably accurate, down to the intricate designs on the leaves. He had also done some unique shading effects to go along with the setting sun in the background that made the picture truly breathtaking.

"Wow, you're awesome!" She exclaimed quietly, tracing her finger along the branches of the tree. "It's so realistic..how did you draw this without looking at the tree? That's the only way I can draw stuff."

Django shuffled in his seat and smiled sheepishly. "I have a good, uh, memory I guess.."

Adyson look up at him, lifting an eyebrow. "Have you ever thought about entering in a local art contest? You'd win for sure, you know."

That seemed to make him even more embarassed as he rubbed the back of his head and looked away. She could've sworn she saw some red in his cheeks, but just blew it off as her own imagination.

"Well, there was one coming up that I thought about entering, but..." He bit his lip then sighed. "I don't think anyone will be interested in what I draw."

"How could they _not_ be interested?" Adyson frowned, tapping his picture with her finger. "This is really good. You're super talented, you just have to stop being so negative."

That lit a spark in his eye and he gave her a large smile. "Gee, you really think so?"

"I know so." Adyson returned the smile, equally as large as his.

The two stared at each other in a comfortable silence for what felt like ages before a coughing sound interrupted them. Both turned to see Mr. Harrison standing near, scowling at them as he tapped his foot.

"Is there something you'd like to tell the rest of the class, Miss Sweetwater?" When she shook her head, he looked at Django. "And what about you, Mister Brown, care to share anything?"

"N-no, Mr. Harrison.."He replied with a nervous smile.

Satisfied he wouldn't be ignored again, Mr. Harrison walked back to the board and resumed his teaching. Adyson glanced back over at Django and saw he was now adding more details to the drawing, the spark still in his eye.

She smiled to herself.

* * *

**Science** **class**

Adyson was walking down the hall towards her science room when she joined up with Katie, Holly and Ginger. The latter had just come from history and unfortunately, science was the only class she had with Adyson. That was just one of a few reasons they weren't the closest of friends, nor did they talk that often despite being in the same troop.

"Hey, where are we having the Fireside Girls knot tying exercise today?" Ginger asked, smiling sheepishly. "I kind of forgot."

"I think Isabella said we were having it at her house this time." Katie answered, though she didn't sound confident in her answer.

Holly lightly flicked her blonde friend on the head. "No, she told us this morning it was moved to Phineas and Ferb's backyard, remember? I told you to write it down or else you'd forget, like Ginger did."

Adyson took a moment to snicker at Katie, who was pouting and rubbing her head, before she joined the conversation.

"What kind of half-witted scheme has she come up with now?" She rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"She's going to invite him to the fair in town on Saturday. I talked to her earlier and she already has the whole day planned out." Holly giggled.

"I think it's kind of cute," Katie said, sighing lazily. "What I wouldn't give to find someone like she has.."

"I just hope she doesn't go overboard, like last time.." Ginger said, shaking her head.

They all nodded in agreement as they reached the science room and entered. A few students were missing, but as Adyson went to take her seat, she spotted the familiar head of Sam bobbing from behind a raised book. She walked over and, reaching into her bag, pulled out the towel he had given her yesterday. He didn't notice her right away, so she tapped him on the shoulder and smiled when he peeked out from behind the book.

"Hey," She said, holding the towel out. "Thanks for lending me this."

He put the book down and smiled as he took it, stowing it in his own backpack. "Don't mention it. I actually forgot about it, to be honest."

Adyson grinned and pointed to his book, which she realized wasn't the standard textbook. "Whatcha reading?"

"It's a historical account of the Siege of Leningrad," Sam explained, showing her the cover. "Did you that though it only lasted 872 days, it was one of the most destructive and costly sieges in terms of casualties? They say over one million soldiers died, and twice as many were wounded.."

"Wow, that must have been terrible.." Adyson couldn't even imagine so many people fighting in one battle. "So you like history?"

He shrugged. "I guess, but it just depends on the time period really."

"History was never really my strong suit. I can never remember dates or names, the two things which are usually on tests." Adyson laughed, despite knowing fully well that it had cost her a few tests before.

"It just takes concentration, don't worry." Sam gave her a reassuring smile. "If you want, I could help you study sometime. It's always more fun to study with friends than alone."

Adyson thought about it. It was definitely true about the friends part, and it would give her a chance to get to know him better. After all, they sat so close all this time and never exchanged a word until now. Who knows, she may even improve her grade in history if he really was as good as he was implying.

"Sounds fun." She smiled and quickly took her seat as Mrs. Whitmore entered the room.

* * *

**Lunch break  
**

"Hey girls!" Isabella said happily as she walked over to join the rest of her troop at their table.

While the lunch room was big, the tables were small enough so that they were able occupy one for themselves and spaced far enough apart as not to crowd anyone. Milly, Holly and Gretchen had brought their own lunch from home, while the others were content with eating the cafeteria food. Well, almost all.

"This spaghetti smells weird.." Ginger stated, poking at it with her fork. She usually brought her own food, but her mom wasn't able to make any this morning and so it was her first time trying the lunch food.

"It's probably just you," Adyson shrugged and scooped some of her own into her mouth. "Mine smells and tastes fine."

Milly smiled and pointed at the other food on her friend's tray. "Maybe it's just the spaghetti. Try something else."

Reluctantly, Ginger opened her pudding cup and took a bite. She tasted it for a few moments before her eyes lit up and she swallowed, putting on a big smile afterwards.

"Hey, this is actually pretty good. Not half as bad as I was expecting, to be honest." She said, eagerly going to town on the pudding.

Isabella cleared her throat and when she had everyone's attention, spoke. "So as you all know, the exercise as been moved from my house to Phineas'. Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher was nice enough to allow us to use her backyard for it."

Gretchen raised her hand. "But why move it there?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Gretchen," Isabella smiled. "While we're there, I want all of you to help me set the atmosphere for when I ask Phineas to the fair. I want it to be special!"

"What exactly do you want us to do though?" Katie asked.

"Don't worry, I've already made a list of tasks for each of you." Pulling out a notebook, Isabella began reading it. "Holly and Milly, I want you two to bring romantic flowers and candles. Katie and Gretchen, you're in charge of the slow music. Adyson and Ginger, I'm giving you the most important part. I need you to make sure nobody interrupts me while the plan is in motion."

Adyson couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Isn't this a tad excessive? Can't you just ask him normally?"

"Like I said, it needs to be special. This could set the tone for our entire relationship, after all." Isabella said matter-of-factly.

"What relationship?" Ginger asked, failing to suppress a giggle.

"Okay, laugh it up girls," Their trooper leader said, crossing her arms. "But I need all of you if this is going to work. So come prepared."

As they all began talking about other things, Adyson found herself drifting off into thought. She began thinking about the events to take place, how ridiculous it was going to be and whether or not it would actually succeed. Soon, however, her mind wandered to Django and she couldn't help but smile as she pictured his twinkling eyes and adorable smile. She remembered the first time they spoke, when she had asked to borrow one of his many pencils and back then he was pretty shy, so he never looked her in the eye. Despite that, however, she had found him cute and they soon became friends, though over the past year she's been steadily working to win him over.

It was yet another way she reminded herself of Isabella, just without the crazy schemes.

"What do you think, Addie?" Gretchen asked, turning all eyes on the unaware girl.

Adyson blinked in confusion and looked around the table. "W-what?"

"We were just discussing where we should hold the upcoming annual Fireside Girls miniature Olympics. Do you think it should be held at the mall or the beach?" Isabella explained.

"Oh, uh.." Adyson frowned and waved her hand nonchalantly. "I don't mind, either one."

Holly raised her eyebrow. "Are you okay, Addie? You seem out of it."

"I was just, uh, thinking.."

"What about?" Katie asked, resting her chin on her open palm.

It was that moment when Adyson glanced around as she struggled to find something to say that Django walked by. He was heading to a nearby table to sit with some friends, and Adyson found herself staring as he went.

"Well...um...nothing, really." She slowly mumbled, only realizing her mistake too late.

She was staring too long and the other girls noticed. Adyson turned back around to a face full of grins, the biggest coming from Holly.

"Addie, were you thinking about Django Brown?" She teased playfully.

Her face slowly turning red, the girl on the spot shook her head vigorously. "Of course not! Why would you even think that?"

"Then why are you blushing?" Milly giggled.

"Yea, Addie, why are you so nervous all of a sudden?" Katie poked her in the arm.

"I..I just...it's hot in here. That's it, yea, it's hot!" Adyson jumped to her feet. "I'm, uh, going to go get a drink of water...I'll see you guys later!"

She then quickly walked out of the cafeteria, thankful to be out of that situation. Though she didn't need it, she decided to stop by the fountain and get a drink. From there, she headed for the bathroom.

_'I hope they don't bring this up again..'_ She thought to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the cafeteria, the rest of the Fireside Girls sat in silence looking at each other. No words really needed to be said about what just took place, but Isabella simply smiled and shook her head.

"Oh yea, she's got it bad.."

The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.


End file.
